Identity
by Blitzchaos
Summary: With a Cerberus plot set into action, Shepard's identity has been stripped from her. In a body completely foreign to her, new responsibilities now hangs even more on the shoulders of her companions. Garrus/Femshep, Shepard-Turian
1. Chapter 1

Shepard wasn't exactly sure what had happened. At first, it was just another routine infiltration of a Cerberus station. Simple. Get in, disable the underground laboratory, and get out. However, something had went horribly amiss during the process of carrying out such a simple command as she suddenly felt a terrible pain flare up in her head, almost along the lines of a migraine. Except, you know, fifty times worse than that. Crippled by the mind numbing assault, Shepard only managed to catch a glimpse of her squad, Garrus and Tali, staggering around in pain much like her before fading out to darkness.

**-oooooooo-**

"Sir, she's showing signs of consciousness again."

_Who... what?_

"Good. About time. Keep a constant dose of sedatives. Don't want her rampaging around the place."

Shepard blinked. The world was slowly coming back into focus, and a bright light was coming into view.

_Well, wasn't this familiar,_ she thought sarcastically. Glancing around, Shepard took in her surroundings. A sterile lab. Medical tools. Was she at some hospital? _Too dark,_ she told herself. Her movements were severely limited, as her whole body was incased in a conforming capsule, save for her head. Something was horribly wrong. Her body, it felt... _so wrong._ She could feel the wires sticking into the back of her head as she groggily tried to assess her situation. She groaned.

A strange, guttural flanging noise came from her chest.

_That's not right._ Panicked, she tried to struggle, flailing her head around to the best of her abilities. Mandibles clicking, she hissed in frustration.

_Wait. Mandibles?_

_Oh dear god. I'm a-_

"Turian. Well done, commander." A smug voice announced, "Welcome to Experiment A74-2, which you've so wonderfully volunteered to participate in. I take it from your frantic movements that you've realized your new form. I'm Doctor Nostromos Gale with the ever so lovely, Cerberus." A pale man walked into the room. He was of average height, black hair, and had the sick blue glow of cybernetic eyes that Shepard had grown to hate in her exchanges with The Illusive Man. Stroking his goatee that framed his sharp face, Shepard couldn't help but immediately take a disliking to him. Grinning proudly, the man walked around admiring his handiwork. Her. He chuckled. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, commander, but perhaps let's see if you can even speak correctly first." Ruthlessly, he grabbed her face, hands pressing her mandibles together as he shown a flashlight into both of her eyes. "Excellent. Full transition into a dextro species. Quite the achievement I'll have to say myself."

"Whar hall didstyou do?"

Shepard tried to speak, but being unfamiliar with her new mouth, all that came out was a slur of dual-toned attempts.

"Oh dear commander," Gale chuckled, "Turians speak with more control than humans do. Try pressing your mandibles together before speaking for enunciation. Take your time. We've got plenty of that."

Shepard glared at the man, narrowing her eyes to try to look defiant. At least, tried to narrow her eyes. Her face wasn't as flexible as it was when she was a human. All the good doctor do was grin back at her, which infuriated her even more.

Pursing her mandibles close to her cheeks (_or was it jaw?)_, Shepard finally managed to growl out,

"What the HELL did you bastards do?"

"Orders from the top, my dear. The Illusive Man just simply wanted you out of the way." Gale sighed. "Of course, if it was up to me, I would've done other things, but strangely enough he was quite adamant on just helping you 'transition' into another species." He paused, looking up at her, "Commander, just know this. We've got plans. Now that you're out of the way, well, good luck stopping us. Especially in that-" He waved his hand at her, "-form. Good luck telling everyone you're Commander Shepard."

So this was their plan. To eliminate Commander Shepard from the face of the galaxy. Was it their way of punishing her? For not keeping the collector base? For taking Miranda and Jacob? It was a miserable predicament, to completely lose the sense of identity. Shepard would've gladly taken a bullet in the head than to live through this humiliation.

"So is that it, _doctor?"_ She spat, "Strip me of my identity? To _erase me?_" Her voice flanged with anger. Gone was the confusion, replaced by rage as she realized her situation.

"Just the first part," Gale responded, "We won't be holding you long either Shepard, as we're sure you'll need time to cope and ah- convince others of what you've been through." He shrugged. "We're not all that bad. We didn't take away your free will as what we've done to some of our subjects."

_The huskified soldiers,_ Shepard recalled, those soulless eyes of the abominations that fought her tooth and nail from time to time.

"Consider it as punishment from The Illusive Man. You've meddled with our affairs for way too long. We just simply needed you to stop. The experiment has been in the works for the longest time you know, in fact, it's been in development for so long that it has only taken a week for your complete transition to the other side."

"How long, Nostromos, tell me. The Illusive Man really hated me, didn't he?"

"Well, of course, that Mars incident didn't help, but I'd like to say... oh, ever since you've rebelled against your savior."

At that, Shepard had to laugh. "Saviors? All you've done is bring me back to life. I've never asked for it. And what did you do after doing so? All you've done is _use me."_

Gale pulled away in a mock expression of hurt, "Oh, I'm sorry commander, I didn't know you would've regretted the _Lazarus Project_ in that regard," He walked up to her, inches away from her fanged face. She could smell him, with her new senses she could not just smell his breath, but his confidence, his lack of fear. The doctor narrowed his eyes, "We're the ones who gave you a second chance. We're the ones who made you who you were. We're just simply taking it back now."

Shepard growled at him. It was something that she had always made fun of Garrus of whenever he's angry, but now it just comes so naturally for her. She couldn't deny that she had enjoy her resurrection. It was what gave her a second chance at numerous things, saving the galaxy for one, and the second: _Love._ Without being back alive she would've never had the relationship she had now with Garrus. Her mate.

_Wait. Garrus. Tali!_

"What did you do to my squadmates?" She yelled as he was slowly making his way to the door. Turning around, his eyes met hers and smiled.

"Don't worry Shepard. They've been... properly disposed of." Gale waved his hands in a circular motion to the tinted windows on the walls before she could say anything else. "Power her down, folks. Prepare for more testing on the subject!" Before Shepard could say anything else, the doctor disappeared behind the door, sealing her in by herself.

"Increasing sedatives," a female voice stated calmly. "Heart rate lowering. Subject resuming stasis."

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" She screamed.

_Oh god. Garrus, Tali, where the hell are you?_ She couldn't bear the thought of their bodies, left here on this foreign planet to rot. She could care less about her situation if she knew the status of her friends. She choked out a muffled sob. Commander Shepard, savior of the galaxy, reduced to a lab rat for Cerberus. Once a human, now a Turian. Now wasn't the time. There were still the reapers. What the hell was she going to do now? _How the mighty have fallen_, she thought before her vision faded out back to black.

**-oooooooo-**

Chakwas looked around the medbay. It's been almost a week before the incident with the Cerberus lab, and Shepard was still missing. To top it off, both Garrus and Tali were under critical condition from multiple bullet wounds in their chest. It was a miracle that they were still alive after the second team immediately responded to their distress call. Vega and Kaiden had found the two crumpled in a heap near the back entrance of the structure, left to bleed out in the harsh environment. It wasn't easy getting them out either. Security had been elevated since the first squad's contact, and as Vega put it, "Ever had to run your ass down to the ship while carrying limp bodies on your shoulders with bullets flying at your face?"

Everyone was bloody, exhausted, and crushed. The absence of their commander was a sordid discovery, as the knowledge of Shepard stuck behind in enemy territory alone was enough to make most of the crew members fall silent and distressed. Vega had insisted on going back in immediately, but Kaiden talked sense into the soldier, revealing that a full on assault on a heavily alert base was NOT a good idea. Plus, they already have two critically injured crewmates to attend to.

Chakwas sighed and poured herself a cup of Serrice Ice brandy. She wasn't supposed to drink on the job, but perhaps just this cup would ease her up a bit. She hadn't slept the past couple of days, constantly tending to Tali and Garrus's vitals. At least EDI was helping out too, with her precise instrumentation she was able to extract and suture all the wounds the two injured squadmates suffered from. Tali's suit was also quickly repaired, and although a mild infection had set in, there wasn't a full on fever, so that helped.

It was now just a matter of time before they recovered. Their steady breathing and beeping of the machines was all that can be heard in the medbay.

_Shepard, where the hell are you?_ Chakwas wondered as she took another sip. Her musings were cut short, however, as Kaiden came in.

"Hey doctor, how are things here?"

Chakwas looked up at Kaiden with tired eyes. The man was doing a good job maintaining the ship under the commander's absence, even though that job was supposed to be appointed to Shepard's second in command, Garrus.

"Things are looking better Kaiden," Chakwas replied, "Both Garrus and Tali have been stable for quite some time now, and the infection that Tali had is pretty much gone. They just need rest. Of course, they shouldn't be seeing any action anytime soon."

Kaiden nodded in response, "Just checking up on them. EDI and Joker have been monitoring the base's status and it seems like security has been lowered a bit. We've also been analyzing what Garrus has managed to tell us what happened." In the past week, both Garrus and Tali's moments of consciousness was drilled with questions of what the hell happened on the ground. All they could muster was something about "the noise," or "head splitting pain."

"We've concluded that it was an assault on their senses through waves of crippling sound waves," EDI stated over the com, "We have managed to get a sample of the noise from Officer Vakarian's eye piece and I've managed to create a opposing wave to create a destructive interaction, effective rendering their wave useless."

Kaiden sighed, "I believe it's now or never doctor. We're going to try to find Shepard this time, so I'm just checking to see if you've got room for one more, you know... just in case if she's in a bad shape."

Chakwas managed a weak chuckle, "It's Shepard we're talking about Kaiden. This is her ship so of course we'll be ready for her. Besides," she cocked her head over to a stirring Garrus, "I'm sure these kids here would be up and out of here soon too."

Kaiden strained a smile, "Tell Garrus not to worry when he's up. I know he'll be freaking out about Shepard immediately when he's lucid enough to be coherent." With that, Alenko walked out. Perhaps this was his chance to get her to trust him again. He knew the relationship between him and her was over, ever since she adamantly told him she was with Garrus now. At first Kaiden felt bitterness, but he knew he had to get over it. He isn't her lover anymore, but he still is her friend. They still butt heads now and then but he still respects her. He just wants her to be on good terms with him again.

He wants her to be happy.

Of course, that wasn't going to happen they find her.

**-oooooooo-**

"Ugh..." Garrus slowly shifted his hands as he felt himself reawaken. However, as soon as he touched his chest, stinging pain shot through his body. "Spirits, that hurts!" He hissed. Chakwas quickly swam into his view, a placid smile on her face.

"As if a missile to the face wasn't enough Garrus, five armor piercing rounds into the chest?"

Garrus managed a weak grin. "You know me, doc. Always putting myself in trouble there." He slowly sat up and noticed Tali's slumbering figure on a bed next to his. "Where's Shepard?"

Chakwas's face quickly darkened.

"She's... still missing."

Panic struck Garrus's heart. Where the hell was she? All he could remember was a head splitting pain and an annoying noice filling his hearing before blacking out. He recalled seeing glimpses of Shepard collapsing before he blacked out...

_Oh Spirits. Just what the hell happened?_ Putting his talons up to his forehead, Garrus rubbed his temples in nervousness. His commander, his mate, Shepard, no, _Jane_, was missing. He couldn't protect her. A deep rumbling growl emanated from his throat. _Those Cerberus bastards! _"Where are we doc? I'm going in for her." He managed to swing a foot off the side of the bed before quickly restrained by Chakwas's firm hands on his shoulders.

"Listen to me Garrus. It's been a week. _A week,_ for god's sake. You and Tali were critically injured when you came in, with Kaiden and Vega dragging your bodies into the ship under heavy fire. I've finally managed to fix you two up and I am NOT going to tolerate more reckless behavior from you until you are healed! Understand?"

Garrus said nothing but stared at her intensely, his deep blue eyes boring into her. "Chakwas. Shepard's my mate. I've failed her as her protector and I need to make things right again." He attempted to get up again but the old woman proved to be surprisingly strong in holding the towering Turian down.

"For god's sake Garrus, look at yourself! You're still wounded, your chest is still hurting even after I slapped on hellish amounts of medigel and sutures. Now you sit your ass down. Kaiden, EDI, and Vega are going back in at this moment to try to find her. We don't even know if she's still there!" The words hung in the air and stung Garrus. Often he would argue, being the stubborn Turian he is, but the doctor's words held truth in them. He's wounded, laying here in the medbay while Jane's still out there in enemy hands. He can't even move without pain lancing up on his side. He lowered his head in defeat. Some mate he is.

Chakwas, noticing Garrus's sudden shift in attitude, quickly placed a supportive hand on his back. "For what it's worth," she stated soothingly, "At least we're trying. We've got the best shot right now and we're taking it."

Garrus remained still.

"Besides, you've done more than you can," fumbling around her cabinets, she pulled out his eye piece, "Thanks to your monocle, we've managed to determine their main defense mechanism: High frequency sound waves set to knock enemies out. EDI managed to create a counter wave to negate it from your recordings." She placed it into his hands and turned around to check up on Tali's machines. "Quite the deep sleeper she is," she mumbled to herself. After a few adjustments Chakwas turned and faced Garrus again, raising an eyebrow, "Do you always record your fights?"

"Ah, not exactly. I knew something was wrong so I activated the recording VI before we blacked out."

"Pretty astute. Sort of like a blackbox. Good thing you were with Shepard."

At the mention of Shepard's name Garrus's heart clenched. _I guess, but it would've been better if I could have just prevented it in the first place._

Chakwas continued on, "Kaiden told me to tell you that he's got it. Don't worry. Even with you and Shepard's absence on this ship, things still ran smoothly, albiet everyone's on the edge for news on the Commander."

Getting back up, Chakwas adjusted Garrus's IV and blood supply, its deep blue color flowing smoothly into his arms. "You've lost alot of blood Vakarian, so get back to resting. I'll increase the sedatives to ease the pain and help you sleep. I'm sure by the time you're awake she'll be back."

Garrus's mandibles flared in a slight smile. Shepard, her long red hair cascading down his side as her head pressed against his shoulders. Perhaps, just perhaps, Chakwas is right. He wishes he could be down there with the squad, searching for her, but he knew the doctor was right. He was in no shape for combat, and going with them would probably just endanger their chances of finding Jane.

_Spirits, protect Shepard. Keep her safe._


	2. Chapter 2

Shepard slowly felt the world coming into focus again.

"Containment field engaged," A smooth, mechanical voice states, "Subject has been released and physical assessments are now prepped and ready."

_Where am I again?_ Shepard groaned and slowly tried to get up. Gone were the wires stuck in her head, and she was no longer limited by that capsule that they stuck her in. She was lying down on cold metallic flooring, with numerous bright lights focused onto her. Pushing herself up, her eyes quickly adjusted to her surroundings. Looking down, her heart skipped a beat.

_Ridges? Spikes?_ Gone was her usual pale smooth skin. In its place was hard carapace plating, gleaming in the dim lights that illuminated her body. Her hands, tipped with three talons, were a foreign sight to her. She flexed her figures experimentally, noting how it feels as if her five fingers have been split into three. God, she felt like a monstrosity. Everything felt out of place, parts stuck out more than she's used to. Hell, was she taller? Her leg spurs stuck uncomfortably against the hard floor, so she slowly propped herself up onto her side. Running her hands along her hands and touching the ends of her fringe, Shepard tried to get a feel of what she looked like. There were no reflective surfaces that she could see, as the dull metal that surrounded her was glowing an eerie blue.

_A containment field._

_So it wasn't a dream,_ she grimaced, flaring her mandibles in annoyance. She was still in the Cerberus lab, and that hostile exchange with that arrogant scientist was real. That, and she's no longer human. That thought earned a dark chuckle, _Commander Shepard, paragon of the human race, now a Turian._ Wait till the council sees her like this. Hell, wait till her crew sees her. What are they going to say? What will Garrus say? Will he still love her?

Shepard's thoughts were quickly cut short by the familiar voice of Nostromos Gale.

"Welcome back, Commander Shepard. Apologies that we didn't have much time to discuss our situation more, but as you can see, we have to carry on in our experiments." Shepard looked around, eyes scanning the walls for the source of the voice. Of course. Speakers and cameras.

"Over this past week we've been extremely busy. But of course, to have you the way you are now, we needed you inactive. Now's the time to see if our experimental results are true breakthroughs."

A pause. Shepard didn't say anything. Studying the room, she realized the only ways out were through airlocked hatches, no doubt protected by numerous security protocols. She was completely naked, her omnitools and weapons absent. She wasn't going anywhere soon. At least she still had biotics...

"We'll have to check your physical condition, Shepard. Those cyberkinetic implants left over from the Lazarus Project helped in the reshaping of your identity, but we're not sure if, ah, their biotic functions are up to par in the body of a Turian. Just to be sure, we've deactivated them." A chill went down her spine as she heard the cold chuckle.

Never before had she felt this helpless, save for the time on Mindoir, so many years ago.

_The Batarian raids..._ Shepard felt like a little girl again, helpless in the horizon of impending doom. The sense of dread has came back, and a lump was felt in her throat. Sudden whirring noises erupted in a cacophonous as sirens went off in the room. At a steady rate, the glowing blue containment fields closed in on her, stifling her movements and sealing her joints.

"Begin protocol stress test," a voice chimed. Unable to move, Shepard braced herself for what was going to come. Blinding hot pain seared across her body, making her scream in agony. Her flanging curses revertabrated uselessly against the steel walls.

And then, as quickly as the pain came, it disappeared. Shepard gasped for air, her body still unable to move.

"That's it, Doc?" She spat, "Of all my years serving in the alliance military, I've been shot at, burned, electrocuted, so if you think that crap fazes me, bring it." A resonating growl started to emanate from her chest again.

Suddenly, a hologram flickered up before her, very much like the one she's seen the illusive man and Hackett appear in. _Nostromos._

The man glanced around Shepard's body, nodding and mumbling to himself, apparently unfazed by Shepard's defiant attitude. "Don't be so prude commander, that was just some simple protocol tests." Tapping some notes on his omnitool, he tapped the glowing orange tool thoughtfully. "Turian plating seems to be holding. Very much like the controls..."

The doctor cocked his head and looked into Shepard's eyes. His blue eyes flickered. "I must say though, you're quite the fine specimen. I actually have no idea why the Illusive man even wants to keep you alive, hell, if it was up to me I'd be sending you into the nearest red star I could find," he made a quick _poof _ sound, hands quickly flexing out in an imitation of an explosion, "nonetheless, he insisted on keeping you alive... with some adjustments of course."

Shepard maintained eye contact, determined to memorize every line of this cocky bastard's face. She was going to kill him, then the chain smoking bastard that brought her back to this world.

"So the Illusive man thinks I'm just his toy, huh? Subject to his sick experiments? What the hell is he even trying to accomplish?"

"Ah, if only you knew," Gale sighed, "Personally I wanted to have you as an ugly Batarian," he laughed, "Imagine how much shit you'll have to go through with all the humans once you're released! But alas, Turian it is. The First Contact Wars hits a more sour string than random Batarian raiders." The doctor continued to walk around her immobilized body, leaning in and out while typing notes onto his omnitool.

Shepard mustered a Turian frown, "You're not planning on killing me aren't you?" She whispered, "You want me to be thrown back into the galaxy, helpless and vulnerable."

She never got an answer, save for a haunting grin from the bearded doctor. His hologram flickered and disappeared, leaving her once again alone in the room, a display of an experiment's sickening result.

"Begin protocol stress test two."

**-oooooooo-**

"Major, we'll need to set up here for optimal interference." Kaiden and Vega turned and looked at EDI, who was busy scanning the horizon with her visor.

"EDI we're no where near the base, let's go!" Kaiden was nervous. There was no clue whether their plan was going work or not, save for the unshackled AI's initial calculations. EDI shook her head and set down the miniature beacon she was carrying.

"To have optimal deconstructive waves, this device needs to be placed at least this far from the initial force. According to my calculations if we get any closer the waves would actually overlap and amplify rather than negate."

Vega glanced at Kaiden, "I'd listen to the bot, major. She's the one that can do math."

Kaiden nodded, "Alright EDI, get that thing set up and let us know when we can move on. Remember the plan, get in and look for Shepard. Try to be discreet as long as you can-" Vega snorted, earning a look from Kaiden, "-we just want Shepard, not a hundred mechs on our asses. We're lucky their securities have loosened a bit, so let's make this quick."

"Let's hope Lola's still in there," Vega sighed, "and still in one piece."

**-oooooooo-**

Shepard was rudely awoken in a pool of her own blood. Blue blood. Her body was wracked with dull pain and her face was flat against the floor, one side smeared with the blood leaking from her nose and mouth. Using her new tongue, she ran it across her jagged teeth to find the wound.

Nothing.

Most likely it was internal bleeding. Mustering her strength, she sat up awkwardly, pain shooting up in dull waves as she assessed her situation. Gone was the blue field that held her in place, and all that was left was the eerily sterile metal walls that held her in.

"Must've passed out," she mumbled to herself, still trying to get used to her voice. Standing up was a chore, and she teetered around like a drunk trying to get a feel of her balance before collapsing into the wall. Coughing, she realized something was amiss. She finally noticed the faint sounds of redundant alarms blaring off in the facility.

An emergency? Another experiment gone wrong? Or perhaps...

A shrill feminine voice cut through her confusion, "Sir, there's been a breach in all of our security systems! Majority of all level protections have been overridden by a single program!"

Shepard couldn't help but grin, _Confusion and chaos._ _Looks like luck's on my side_.

"Keep her in there! Whatever you do, DO NOT leave her unattended!"

Nostromos Gale's voice cut through the air in a panicked tone, "What the HELL is going on here?"

"Containment fields across all facilities have been disabled. Whoever's attacking our systems sure as hell know what they're doing."

Shepard could hear the doctor cursing through the speakers, "The Illusive Man's not going to like this. What the hell happened to our sonic system securities?"

"Bypassed. The intruders seemed to have gotten through the sound fields unharmed and managed to infiltrate in through the western side." It was a man, this time. Shepard could see it already, Cerberus scientists scrambling wildly as Dr. Gale tried to desperately gain a foothold on the situation. _Gotta be my crew,_ she told herself. She knew they would come back for her. However, getting them to accept her new face was a different matter.

Limping her way to the airlock doors, she tried pressing her talons against the button. To her surprise, it easily gave, and with a hiss, the doors opened.

She was met with a dozen stares, with Nostromos in the back of the room gaping at her, rage flickering in his eyes. Time stood still as their eyes met. Shepard felt heat build up in her. This man... this cocky asshole was going to pay.

"GET HER!" Immediately, bodies flew at the hobbling Turian, tackling her down before she could even make a move. Hissing, she swiped at anything in her way, using her newly gained spikes to do as much damage as possible. Crimson blood splashed as her talons contacted flesh, earning plenty of screaming and agony filled assaults onto her body. Fighting tooth and nail, Shepard tried to get out of the huddled mess she was stuck under, clawing desperately to get out. The pain she felt earlier was doubled as fists made contact with her softer areas that weren't covered by her plates. However, she quickly felt a cool prick as a syringe was plunged into her neck and ejected its contents.

_Crap._ Fighting to keep her eyes open, Shepard weakly tried to do as much damage as she could, biting and gouging the bodies that overwhelmed her. Voices dulled and she saw Gale head out the door shouting orders at various staff members.

"Get her into the cargo bay! Transfer her out of this facility as soon as possible. I'll take care of Subject Gemini!"

_Subject Gemini? What..._ her eyelids felt heavy and before she once again fell into a drug induced slumber, she wished Garrus would be there, holding her close and dragging her out of this hellhole.

**-oooooooo-**

"So much for discretion, eh Major?" Vega yelled over the din of a firefight. Poking out of cover, he quickly landed two shots on an advancing soldier, "and there goes another!"

Kaiden gave a dry laugh, "Well, at least we got EDI to take over the mainframe and override all the security systems! Speaking of which, how's the search going EDI?"

The AI was crouched behind two crates, eyes moving frantically over the data that was pouring in to the front of her. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard at the nearby desk terminal, frantically typing in commands. "Major, you've asked the exact same thing exactly five minutes and thirty eight seconds ago," Kaiden could swear he heard a tinge of annoyance in her voice, "and as I have said before, I need more time downloading their files and bypassing their encryption."

A sudden ping made Kaiden look over to EDI, followed by a satisfied "Ah," from her synthetic body.

"Got something EDI? Because they keep coming in! We need to move!" James quickly bit down on the pins of two grenades and launched it over into a group of Engineers setting up a turret, "Get down!"

A large explosion followed, leaving bodies in fragments as the smoke settled.

"According to their records, they're keeping Shepard in the containment are of the basement labs. I suggest we move there with haste."

"You heard her Major, let's haul ass! Wastin' daylight here!"

Kaiden was about to retaliate at James's outburst, but quickly closed his mouth and nodded.

**-oooooooo-**

_Voices._ Creeping closer to the door, Vega signaled to both EDI and Kaiden to quickly get into position. Peering in through the window, they spotted a group of Cerberus agents huddled over a stasis pod, prepping it for whatever they were going to do with it.

"What's the ETA on the transport to the cargo bay?"

"About 10 minutes. Going to be one annoying trip to drag this bitch all the way there."

"Well, and order's and order. Looks like whatever's happening here spooked the doc from staying here. Hurry up and get the pod's security system locked up!"

Kaiden frowned. Whoever they had in that pod wasn't going to be here long.

EDI signaled the two for their attention, "Shepard should be in here!"

"Alright. Ready? We've got the element of surprise. On my go..."

"3..."

Vega tightened his grip on his assault rifle.

"2..."

_God, I hope it's her_ Kaiden silently thought to himself. Glancing over at EDI, he roared out the final count,

"ONE! GO!"

Rampaging through the door with biotics flaring, blue flames flew across the room, launching five soldiers flying through the air. Followed by skilled shots from Vega, the bodies slumped down, hitting the floor and leaving a blood smear across the wall that they hit. Quickly clearing the room, the three checked the adjacent rooms searching for any signs of their commander.

"Yo, Major, check out the monitors here! Looks like they were conducting some sick torture experiments or something!"

Kaiden and EDI walked up to Vega, who was fiddling with the main control panel and scanning through numerous experiment data and vids.

"Allow me, James," EDI said calmly as she gently steered Vega aside and started a data download.

Kaiden walked back towards the stasis pod and bent down, engaging its lock system to try to open it. With no success, he looked back up to EDI was still preoccupied with the control panel. "EDI, can you crack this pod open afterwards? Whoever or whatever they've got in here seems to be worth placing under level ten security functions."

"Think it's Lola?" Vega wondered aloud hopefully, "It's gotta be right? EDI said she should be in here..." he glanced around and spotted the open airlock. "I'll check that room. We didn't clear there did we?"

"Already did, Vega. Glanced in, and no one's in there."

"Major, James."

Both men looked at EDI and noticed the confused look on her face. Quickly glancing at each other, they realized something must be up. AI's don't get confused easily.

"I've managed to decrypt the confidential files and have come to some puzzling data. Cerberus data logs state Commander Jane Shepard as present in this facility. In fact, security logs state that she was experimented on in this very lab we're in. However..."

Both Vega and Kaiden looked expectedly at EDI as she turned around with a look of bewilderment on her face.

"They seem to have mistaken and have her personal medical records mislabeled her species as a Turian."

"So? Simple mistake?"

EDI shook her head, "Simple consistency states that it was no mistake, Major. There are only two possible conclusions: One, this is not our Commander Shepard that we're looking for, or two, they've... altered her."

Both alliance soldiers stared at the AI. EDI, unfazed, continued, "Logically, I highly doubt that the first scenario is the probable case. I regret to inform you that Shepard has most likely been experimented on and may not be the same being you've came to know. I wish to delve further into their files, but we seem to be short on time. Cerberus infantry is closing in on our location and decrypting the remaining files would take longer time. I've taken the liberty to copy the files over onto my systems so I can review them later. In the mean time..." she walked over to the stasis pod and peered at the lock system.

With a couple of taps on the holo keyboard, the sealed container snapped open. All three crewmembers looked down at what was presented before them.

"Shit. Lola? No way."

Kaiden was at a loss of words, jaw slackened at what he saw.

_Dear God, Shepard is that you?_

"Major, I believe this is supposed to be Commander Shepard, post Cerberus experimentation."


	3. Chapter 3

James never expected EDI to be this strong. Being in the form of a human female, albeit, a synthetic human female, Vega couldn't help himself but be shocked when EDI effortlessly hoisted the unconscious Turian onto her back and started running out. Watching her do so made Vega have second thoughts about teasing Joker in fear of his robotic girlfriend strike him in the gut in defense.

Getting back out of the Cerberus facility was not an easy task. After radioing in for pick up, Kaiden, Vega, and EDI stormed their way through the labs and made their way to the rooftop where Cortez and Liara was waiting for them.

Liara glanced down at the approaching squad and squinted at the form on EDI's back.

"Where's Shepard?"

"You're looking at her, Blue!" Liara opened her mouth, about to ask more questions but was quickly cut short when bullets hailed onto the side of their shuttle, forcing her to slide into cover on the side of the door. Spinning back out of cover, the Asari shot out a couple of singularity fields before offering a hand to hoist the three up. As EDI gently laid down the listless form, Kaiden quickly closed the door and banged the sides,

"Get us out of here Cortez!"

"Way ahead of you Major!"

The shuttle lurched, still under heavy fire, and sharply pulled away from the facility.

**-oooooooo-**

The crew was gathered around EDI as she slowly made her way through the mess hall into Chakwas's medbay. In her hands was the unconscious female Turian, now wrapped with some blankets, hugging her thin angular form. Following closely behind her were the rest of the usual squad, Vega and Alenko walking in the same stride as if guards on duty and Liara trailing a bit behind. Although the crew that mingled in the mess hall were pretending to mind their own businesses, Liara could still see numerous quick glances at their direction, murmurs and whispers spreading through the room like a hissing wildfire.

Near the elevators, Traynor stood still along with Joker, who had managed to leave the ship to EDI's autopilot to hobble down the elevator to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.

"Last time I checked, Shepard was definitely not a Turian," Joker managed to weakly say. Traynor placed her hand on her chin, contemplative.

"You know, it's your girlfriend that insists that that's Shepard... I don't know what to think. Part of me is relieved that she's been retrieved, but to see her like that..." Traynor shook her head, "it's going to be quite the hell when she wakes up."

Joker said nothing but stared. A lump was felt in the back of his throat. Shaking his head in nervousness, he limped back into the elevator to get back to the cockpit.

_This mission has seriously been nothing but trouble._

**-oooooooo-**

"Karin, clear a table for her." Liara walked around the group and gently took Shepard from EDI's hands.

EDI started to walk back out the doors, her job done for now. Swiveling around before closing the door, she nodded to Liara, "Dr. T'soni, I've managed to download majority of the Cerberus facility's experiment files. Perhaps it would be advantageous if you review them with me afterwards."

"Sounds good EDI, just go ahead and send them over to my terminal. Glyph will begin the decoding process and should be ready by the time we're done here."

Garrus and Tali stirred and sat up in response to the sudden influx of visitors. Still recovering from the bullet wounds, the pair was lightheaded from the painkillers that Chakwas had administered to them. Looking around, they were greeted by solemn faces. All attention was focused on the Turian in the distant bed.

"Keelah... What's happening?" Tali uttered. Garrus frowned.

"Alenko, where's Shepard?" Garrus managed to croak out, staring intensely at the Major.

Kaiden gestured at the body in EDI's arms, unsure of what to say to Garrus. It was a sensitive situation, and he knew the bond that the two had.

"That's... her."

Garrus blinked. Confusion was quickly replaced by anger as a growl started to emanate from his chest, "I'm not joking here Kaiden, did you or did you not find Shepard?"

When Kaiden didn't look back at him, Garrus frantically scanned the faces of everyone else. They all avoided eye contact with him, faces masked with nervousness.

Sliding off of his bed, Garrus quickly hobbled over to the bed where his mate was. Shoving bodies out of his way, he glanced at Shepard and his body numbed.

_What... Shepard... what did they do? Spirits just what is going on?_

She laid out before him, and he was unable to comprehend what he was seeing. She had the same vulnerable look that she had when she was human, the same look that Garrus was used to seeing whenever waking up by her side in the early hours. Somehow, deep down, Garrus knew this was her. However, it was all such a foreign sight to him. For a Turian female she would be considered as quite the looker, her fringes were of perfect length, each thinner than his but still intricately sharp. Her complexion was more of a pinkish tint as opposed to his grey, and her plates were perfectly conforming to her softer skin.

"Shepard..." he rasped, and felt a supporting blue hand lay on his shoulder. He turned his head and met Liara's gaze.

"We're not sure if it's her Garrus, but EDI has insisted that this is her. I'm... sure we can continue looking for Shepard if this isn't her..." The others were silent.

Garrus shook his head. "It's her Liara. I can feel it. It doesn't look like her, but I know it's her. Call it a mate's intuition, but even though her form's different I'm positive it's Shepard."

_Shepard, I didn't want to believe it but I know it's you._ It pained him to admit it, as Garrus wanted to deny that his mate had to suffer through such horrible circumstances while he was out cold in the Normandy.

"Everybody, out," barked Chakwas, "Tali, Garrus, get back into your beds. I've already got my hands full with a patient here so I don't want you two to do anything but rest," her face softened when looking at them, "It's been a long time since this place has been packed... let's just hope this will be the last."

"Chakwas..." Tali started, only to be quickly cut short by the doctor's hand.

"No buts, Tali, the only reason why you're not feeling anything is thanks to the pain killers. You need another twelve hours of rest before I can let you two walk around this ship freely.

Grumbling, Garrus watched as Tali shifted back onto her bed. Chakwas has already administered him sedatives to help him sleep, and was already working on Tali.

Placing a sympathetic hand on Garrus's arm, Chakwas nodded, "I'll be sure to let you up when I'm done."

**-oooooooo-**

Garrus shifted feverishly on his bed. Eyes snapping open, he glanced over at the wall where the clock hanged. He's been out for almost twelve hours. Not exactly, but close. Shaking his head to work off the grogginess, he looked around the room and noticed that Chakwas was absent. He glanced nervously over at his side. Tali was still asleep. For a Quarian of her tiny size, she can be quite the sound sleeper. Getting up, Garrus slowly walked over to the table in the corner of the room to look at the still form. Taking a deep breath, he focused his eyes on the sight in front of him.

Covered in white sheets, she looked so peaceful, her breathing was soft and steady as her chest raised up and down rhythmically, mandibles slightly twitching with each inhale of air. There was an air of familiarity in the foreign sight before him, a paradox that existed within his very eyes. It was strange, he could see the similarities of this body and the mate he knew, but it was also still so different...

_About a whole species gap difference,_ he told himself sarcastically.

Garrus gulped. He was horribly conflicted. He loves Shepard, almost everything about her: Her red, long hair, her plump lips, and those charming freckles. Garrus never had a human fetish, but for Shepard, he'd consider that he had developed a "taste" for her. However, this fine specimen in front of him, although his intuition tells him it's still her, he felt a tinge of guilt looking at something else other than Shepard's human body and still finding it attractive.

"Shepard..." he croaked as he gently took his talon and stroked her fringe, "I don't know what the hell they did to you, but... I'm sorry."

He paused. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you... I'm sorry I let this happen. Whatever comes next however, I'll be sure that it'll be alright." Holding her three fingered hands, he squeezed them, hoping for a response.

"We're in this together."

Behind him, Garrus heard a shift as Tali turned in her bed.

"Sheesh, Garrus this is actually the first time I've heard you not make any wise ass jokes."

"Way to make this really awkward Tali."

"It's actually really sweet. Nevermind that. For your sake I'll just erase what I heard from my mind," she teased, "How is she?"

"Don't know... Chakwas wasn't here when I woke up. She seems to be stable though. Breathing and charts seem to indicate just deep sleep."

He heard Tali sigh.

"What the hell happened Garrus? Everything was just as normal as ever and the next thing I know, here we are, both of us with bullet holes and Shepard a Turian. It's as if the universe thinks we don't have enough to worry about other than just the Reapers trying to kill us all..."

Before Garrus could respond, the medbay doors opened and Chakwas along with Kaiden marched in. The doctor noticed Garrus and Tali up and smiled, "Good to see you kids back up so soon. I've done my best on clearing up her internal bleeding. I've checked her physiological status as well. She's functioning fine, well, as fine as a Turian should." She shook her head, "Nevermind that, I just had a chat with Liara and EDI I do believe they're setting up a squad meeting in about an hour or so and wanted me to pass it down to you two here."

Garrus nodded, "Hopefully they've found out more about what Cerberus is up to?"

"Seems like it. However they haven't said anything to me yet," Kaiden responded, "Karin, how's our new patient holding up?"

_New patient?_ Garrus blinked, "You mean Shepard," he ventured to say.

Kaiden eyed Garrus warily and sighed, "I would love to believe that she's Shepard as much as you do Vakarian, but protocol's protocol. As EDI and Liara still haven't released any findings yet, we can only be cautious."

Frustrated, Garrus could only growl quitely to himself. He knew Kaiden was right. Until Shepard awakes and tell them just what the hell has happened, he had no real solid proof that it's actually her, rather than just his instincts.

"Just... how much has been altered Karin?" Tali asked.

"Almost everything," Chakwas crossed her arms and looked over her notes on her datapad, "there's absolutely no trace of any human DNA and her physiology has been noted to be completely dextro based."

A sinking feeling was felt in Garrus's chest. _No trace of Jane at all?_ He looked back down and shifted on his feet. "You said almost doctor," he said, "not everything."

"I was getting to that. According to the biometric scans her previous implants from Cerberus haven't been changed. Perhaps they were too vital to her functions so they left that alone, albiet they've been shifted to fit the new bone structures better. Also... the biotic amps that she had seems to have been deactivated."

Garrus scoffed. Of course, to eliminate her as a threat, they'd completely disarm her. Everyone knows that even without a gun a biotic is still as deadly.

_So she's now no longer a biotic. Hell, she's going to throw a fit. _Garrus managed a weak smile.

"Other than all that, there weren't too major injuries. No broken bones at least, and the internal bleeding was minimal enough to be non life threatening." Chakwas tapped her datapad a couple of times before setting it off to the side. "Of course, all of this is just the physical aspect of the evaluation. As for her psyche and mental stability..."

Chakwas's voice trailed off as Garrus's mind wandered off. He knew her concerns and fears. Shepard wasn't always the most open person with her emotions, even if she had an open door policy with everyone else. It was like a one way mirror, and it was only recently after the events on Palavan that she has begun to open up a bit more to him. He first had his doubts when she offered him to share her cabin, but as time slowly went on walls broke down and their relationship slowly blossomed into a full-fledged pinnacle of trust. No longer did they need to speak to communicate, they functioned together as one. Watching her six has become more than just that, and every night they spent together was another where they peacefully held each other together in this hectic battle-torn world.

He knew she had her troubles. There were nights where she would thrash and turn until he held her tight to his chest to comfort her. She didn't want to talk about it first, but after a while she began to vividly describe her nightmares to him. All he would do was sit there and listen, and her grateful look afterwards told him that that was enough.

_Spirits, be easy on her,_ Garrus prayed silently. The stress that she had on her shoulders didn't need to be compounded by this incident, but it has. Not only does she have to deal with the looming reaper threat, she has gone and lost her identity. He was worried of what she'll think when she awakes. All he could do is be there for her.

After staying silent, Kaiden finally cut in, "Mind if you forward it to Liara's terminal doctor? We'll most likely be discussing this in our meeting."

"Of course, Major."

**-oooooooo-**

The soft glow of the fish tank illuminated Shepard's cabin when Garrus walked in. Looking around the room, it looked exactly the way they've left it since they set out to raid the Cerberus lab. Hitting the button on the tank, Garrus watched as the fish greedily swam to the top, fighting for the tidbits that drifted down. Apparently no one had bothered feeding the fish since he was recovering. Sighing, he sat down onto the bed. The cabin wasn't big, but it did accommodate both of them. The fact that she have much herself allowed Garrus to move his belongings in fairly easily. He had his prized weapons scattered on the couch, left in the middle of cleaning and calibrating. A bottle of unfinished dextro-safe brandy sat on the table, accompanied by empty glasses.

It seemed as if it was just last night when they were both cracking jokes over a couple of drinks, talking about the "old times" and just enjoying the company of each other.

Somehow, in the back of his mind, Garrus couldn't help but worry if those intricate moments were about to end.

His eyes lazily wandered over to the closet, and he realized that he actually had more clothes than her. Partitioned, all she had for casual wear was her alliance uniforms, that hideous colonist set that she kept, and the black dress that Kasumi had given her on her espionage fiasco. Walking over, he sifted through his civilian clothes when a idea popped into his head.

**-oooooooo-**

Garrus was the last to arrive into the war room for the squad meeting. Tali was leaning on the railing and gave him a nod before shifting over to make some room. Liara, Vega, and Kaiden were staring intensely at the holo projector, where EDI had managed to pull up the files she's recovered. Glancing over at Garrus, Liara faintly smiled before turning back and addressing the crew.

"As we know, this previous mission had left us two wounded and Shepard in an unknown condition." She paused, typing quickly and bringing up what looks like health files of Shepard recorded by Cerberus. "After we've managed to recover Garrus and Tali, we discovered that our commander has gone completely MIA. However, due to the high security measures appointed after our initial failed assault, it was advised to wait a week before going back in to look for Shepard."

Garrus was getting a bit annoyed. She was just restating everything that everyone knew. He knows it's military protocol for a quick review debrief, but he always thought it was pointless.

The asari continued on. "According to EDI after hacking into their mainframe and retrieving records for signs of Shepard, the ground team has managed to find a curious life pod where Shepard is supposed to be. As you all know, the female Turian in our medbay is the prisoner that we've managed to recover. There were no other signs of the Shepard we know."

Suddenly, EDI's voice chimed in, "After an initial scan of their experimental procedures, I have found that Cerberus has been experimenting with cross-species integration technology. Particularly, Turians and Humans. Logs have marked Shepard as a subject to their methods, but much of what exactly they did was wiped remotely during my download. Most likely they've already expedited the data out to another facility to prevent us obtaining it."

Kaiden frowned, "But you're sure that who we have is Shepard?"

It took a while for EDI to respond. "Not one hundred percent, Major. Just a very high percentile. From the clues we've gathered I've only made the deduction that this Turian prisoner is Shepard. It's only labeled her with the name, no other descriptions. The logs did mention other test subjects, both Turian and Human, but we did manage to find her in Shepard's designated location. Also, the fact that they were trying to desperately transfer her out shows significance in her presence."

"Keelah... so there are more people suffering?" Tali placed her hand on her mouthpiece, aghast at the idea of the experiments Cerberus were doing.

"We couldn't do much Sparks, it was a get in get out type of rescue mission. We were getting swarmed." Vega paced about nervously, eyes still centered on the data projected.

"As I was saying," Liara interjected, "EDI and I have fully scanned through majority of what we managed to download. It seems like there's a over project called 'Project Gemini' that the facility was undertaking. Much of the data was fragmented, but all we could see is that Shepard was considered an important piece of it. This whole mission that we were ordered to do was a trap. They purposely got the Alliance's attention to get Shepard onto the case." She looked down and shook her head, "That's all we can muster so far."

It was Kaiden's turn to speak, "So you're telling me we know Shepard was experimented on, something to do with Turians, but we don't have an exact detail of what she looks like? Hell we could probably even have the wrong person!"

"It's her."

All eyes turned to face Garrus. The turian's blue eyes were stern and determined.

Kaiden folded his arms. Garrus knew that look. Whenever the Major started pestering Shepard about being with Cerberus and how he can't trust her Garrus noticed how he would often fold his arms in defiance and purse his lips. It annoyed Garrus, but Jane has told him to ease off of the human as she has already forgiven him.

"C'mon Garrus, you can't tell me you can tell straight off by just looking at her. Remember what Liara said! The whole thing was a planned trap from the start! Who knows if this prisoner was just another pawn planted to sabotage us?"

"I... I just know, alright? The moment I saw her I could sense Shepard's same aura!" Garrus's mandibles clicked, revealing how flustered he was, "Look, we're... mated, as everyone probably already knows," he could see Kaiden shift uncomfortably when the word came out, "and I've managed to... well, imprint on her." He was met with stares. "It's a Turian thing. We mate for life so we remember our partner's identities to an almost spiritual level."

Liara sighed, "Garrus, I know you think it's Shepard, but we simply can't be sure. There's no complete logs of Shepard transforming into a Turian, it's only inferred by EDI. My contacts as the shadow broker haven't mentioned anything about Project Gemini either, so it's either something completely fabricated as a trap or so secretive that even I couldn't dig into." She walked up to Garrus and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know you know, but... we have to be careful."

Garrus didn't look at her.

"Can we change her back?" Vega questioned.

"Not unless we have all the data that they've wiped."

Tali propped herself up and looked at everyone, "So what now?"

Before anything could be said, Chakwas's voice suddenly interjected through the ship's comlink, "Major, she's up." A pause. "She's also asking for you, Officer Vakrian."

Garrus's heart skipped a beat.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Readers, thank you for sticking with me! I do apologize if there are errors, as I'm editing the story by myself. If you see anything wrong, please let me know. I've skimmed through it but nothing really caught my eye so I assume everything's fine. I swear, I need a beta reader or something._

_Anyways, this chapter took a bit longer than intended as getting all my ideas down was a bit more complicated this time. There was alot of erasing and retyping! Hopefully I'll have the drive to finish this whole story before I run out of fuel (I tend to do that). _

* * *

Shepard woke up with a start. Gasping for air, she quickly sat up, alert and dazed with no idea of where she was now.

"Easy now dear," proclaimed a soothing voice, and Shepard quickly looked around for the source.

_Chakwas._ She felt a surge of relief wash over her. _I'm back. I'm home. _Letting out a sight, she slowly ran her hands over her face, covering her eyes in respite. The feeling of her claws against her hardened carapace reminded her that she was still a Turian, and although she wished it had just been a nightmare, this was reality. She managed a small sob as it dawned on her.

She felt Chakwas walk up next to her and rub her back comfortingly, trying to calm her down. "Welcome back..." the doctor slowly whispered, and after a pause, Chakwas decided to venture forth, "Shepard."

Shepard could only manage a nod as she withdrew her feet close to her body.

"Karin... you have no idea how good it is to see a familiar face again."

Noting that the patient responded to the name, Chakwas breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn't doubt EDI, but she knew Kaiden's worries are warranted. However, who was she to judge? As a doctor on the Normandy with the commander for years, she's seen the impossible happen so for her friend to suddenly change into a Turian... well somehow that's not as unbelievable as she would make it. For now, this was enough to convince her that the Turian was indeed her commander, her friend.

"You're safe now dear. Kaiden, Vega, and EDI managed to-"

Shepard gasped, "Garrus! Chakwas, where's Garrus and Tali?" She tried to get off of the bed but was met with firm resistance of the doctor holding her down. "They were with me Karin! I saw them fall before I blacked out!"

Chakwas held Shepard down, drawing her in into an embrace, "Shh shh, it's ok Shepard, they're fine." She could feel Shepard's tension fade away. Pulling away, Chakwas held her at an arm's length and smiled, "In fact, they're all in the war room having a squad meeting. Trust me, those friends of yours are hardier than you think they are. Bullet hole ridden but still alive and kicking."

Shepard's mandibles slackened in relief. They're alive. _Garrus is alive._ _That bastard doctor was lying._ Suddenly, a flash of fear found itself back into her head.

"Were they..." she gulped, "experimented on too?"

Chakwas looked at her with a face full of pity. Shepard hated that but she wasn't in the mood to be a smartass. "Not to worry commander. They're fine. Garrus is still the stubborn Turian you know and Tali... well, other than a few minor infections from the bullet wounds she's perfectly fine."

Shepard flopped back into the medical bed she was in. _So I'm the only one Cerberus wanted... _She wasn't sure how to take it. It was great that her squadmates were safe, especially her mate... She couldn't imagine losing him. An image of Garrus lying in a pool of blue blood on omega flashed through her mind. She shuddered.

However, because Cerberus had beef with her, they've somehow singlehandedly completely ruined her plans. How was she going to talk to Hackett? What will Andersen think? Hell, will the council even back her anymore?

_Will I still be Commander Shepard?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Chakwas pulling out a box from under her desk and rummaging through its contents. "Speaking of your squadmates commander, Garrus stopped by earlier before heading to the meeting to drop off some clothes for you." Pulling out some clothes, Shepard immediately recognized it as one of Garrus's civilian clothing. "Can't let you see everyone naked, can we?" The doctor chuckled, "You're lucky we have a Turian on board... especially one that cares for you like this."

If Shepard could blush she would be beet red. She always got a bit flushed when others spoke of her relationship, especially with the Normandy crew grinning whenever they were being affectionate. It wasn't much of a secret anymore after she personally changed his room arrangements to bunk with her, but she still liked to think it was.

Grabbing the offered clothes, Shepard started her attempt on donning the alien clothing. After seeing Garrus slip in and out of his wear so many times, she was surprised at how much trouble she was having. The long sleeved upper top was a breeze, but the pants...

She found herself awkwardly attempting to pull the legs over her spurs. She swore she was going to rip it if she exerted any more force. "Uh... doc?"

Chakwas looked over and chuckled. Luckily she has examined enough ranges of species to understand how their basic wear works. "The secret to the leg spurs commander," she said as she twisted the garments around, "is to angle it until both sides line up to the looser ends. Then-" with a strong pull the doctor fit the spikes into the grooves snugly, "just like that."

"Mirror... do you have a mirror Chakwas? I... I never got the chance to see my own face."

Immediatly a small mirror was placed into her three fingered hands.

"We usually don't keep one in the medbay, but that one's my own. I know it's not a full body mirror but it'll do."

Shepard nodded in response, thanking the doctor and quickly glanced down.

A stranger stared back. The eyes were green, just as it was when she was human, but the irises looked different, almost more... _feral_. Taking a talon to her face, she gently traced her mandibles on her sides, clicking them experimentally. It didn't have much wide of a movement as she thought it did, at least, not as flexible as Garrus made it. Her mouth... well, hell, her mouth was something else. It didn't seem like the sides closed at all, relying on the mandibles for protection and cover. The teeth that it encased were razor sharp, reminding her of a fearsome raptor. Swishing her mouth around with her new blue tongue, she flinched as she accidentally cut it. _Damn, these teeth are dangerous._ Sticking out her tongue, she noticed the foreign color that's oozing slowly from the wound.

Blue blood.

Goddamn, it looked like she was a Turian, through and through. Moving up, she rubbed the tip of her fringe. It didn't look like it was as long as Garrus's but it was long enough to cover the majority of her scalp. She took in a deep breath.

This is it. _This is me._ Although her face didn't show it, she was holding back tears. After waking up every morning to the same face in the mirror, she's now forced to completely change her identity. _Not to mention that new flanging voice too,_ she sordidly told herself. She has seen enough. Giving the mirror back, she looked down at her bird-like feet and sighed.

"This body's going to be the end of me, Karin... any clues to if this is reversible or not?"

To her despair, the older woman's face took a grim turn and strained a small smile, "Afraid not at this moment. Perhaps if we retrieve more of Cerberus's experiment logs..."

Shepard quickly changed the subject, "Where's Garrus? Can I see him yet?" She didn't want to feel sorry for herself. Yet.

Chakwas nodded and activated her omnitool.

"Major, she's gaining up." Taking a quick glance at Shepard, she leaned in closer to her wrist and added, "She's also asking for you, Officer Vakarian."

**-oooooooo-**

The medbay doors opened swiftly as a dozen figures came pouring in. Garrus was the first one in as he forced his way into the front. Catching the sight of Shepard, he rushed to her and gingerly took her hands into his.

"Shepard." He couldn't help but manage a Turian grin, opening his jaws and puffing his mandibles out. He noticed his lover return the same gesture. Shepard slid off the bed hugged him, placing her head onto his shoulders. Flinching, Garrus gingerly returned the sentiment. "Not so hard commander, those bullet wounds still hurt like hell."

"They told me you and Tali were dead, Garrus."

"Well, here you are, hugging me and wearing my old clothes."

Shepard couldn't help but chuckle at that. Pulling away, she scanned the crowd, looking for the familiar purple clothed Quarian.

"Tali!" They both embraced, glad to see each other alive. Tali took a good long look at Shepard before reaching down and gently clasping her hands.

"Shepard, I'm so sorry, " she whispered, "It pains me to see what they've done to you."

"As long as we're all alive," Shepard strained. She couldn't deny that she wasn't bothered by the change, but she felt the need to remain strong in front of her crew. Turning around, she noticed how the rest of the crew still seemed to be uneasy. "Well? What are you all gawking at? I'm still me."

It was Vega who piped up. "No doubt, Lola, but the squad meeting we just had-"

"Brought up reasonable concerns that we still must look into," Kaiden cut in, boring his eyes into Shepard, "as the Alliance Major of this ship commander, I took the liberties to run things while you and Garrus were unavailable for duty. However, in the squad meeting we just had now, Liara and EDI brought up troublesome points."

The Asari stepped forward, her face serious, "To say it straight Shepard, we still have doubts on Cerberus and their actions... particularly on your identification."

Shepard couldn't believe what she was hearing. Standing in the medbay, she suddenly felt like she was put onto trial. Her crew, the very crew that had stuck together through so many years, was actually doubting her.

"So you're unsure that I'm Shepard, is that correct?"

"Not exactly-"

"What proof do you want? I still have my implants in me."

"We're not asking for proof," Kaiden interjected, "but I just feel that it would be better if we air on the safer side and have you lay low a bit until we get this whole thing sorted out."

"For god's sake guys, I've just got my humanity completely robbed from me and now you're trying to take away my ship?" She flung her hands into the air, making annoyed clicking sounds with her teeth. She stared straight back at the crowd that stood at the doorway, daring them to speak. All avoided her gaze.

Shepard sighed. "It's fine. I understand. It's good to suspect, escpecially when Cerberus is involved." Her flanging voice was warbling. Hands shifting to her chest, a sense of betrayal was bubbling up and she suddenly felt the need to cry.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Twisting around, she saw Garrus looking down at her, a pitying look in his eyes. She growled.

"I'm going into my cabin. Let me know when you've got this-" Shepard waved her claws at herself "-situation figured out." Forcing her way through, she stormed out the medbay door only to shortly hear her mate's voice call out her name.

"Shepard! Wait!"

She didn't bother turning around.

"Jane!"

His calls fell on deaf ears as the elevator door sealed shut.

**-oooooooo-**

Garrus cursed himself for not stopping Kaiden from pressing Shepard on the issue. He turned around, only to see the crew still standing at the medbay door, staring at him.

"Really Kaiden? Did you just have to tell her all that CRAP just NOW?"

The crewmembers that happened to be in the mess hall were quickly shuffling away, sensing a confrontation. The Turian marched up to the human and stared down at him, eyes narrowed.

"I've already told you, It's HER."

Liara stepped in between, pushing both men aside. "Garrus, we all knew that this had to come out sooner or later. EDI and I will try to get more info out of Cerberus as soon as possible. With my Shadow Broker contacts-"

"Screw your contacts Liara! You of all people too! If you were going to tell her that bullshit you didn't have to be that harsh! Years before you would've trusted Shepard in a heartbeat, but now..." He glanced at her, surveying her body from head to toe, "you've changed."

Taken aback, Liara dropped her hands. For a moment, her cool composure was shaken, but just as fast, her face quickly hid her shock and she strained a half smile at Garrus. She shook her head and stepped away.

"Either way. I'll be in my room, researching. For Shepard's sake." As she crossed the mess hall and disappeared into her room, Garrus turned back to Kaiden and glared.

"Kaiden, I thank you for saving me and Tali's ass, but know your limits," he growled. "She's already been hurt by your doubt before, and she doesn't need a repeat act."

Kaiden opened his mouth and closed it. He didn't think about that. _Damnit Alenko,_ he told himself as he watched Garrus storm away, _you just wanted to be on good grounds again._ His mouth felt dry. Perhaps he did come off a bit too harsly. However, was he wrong to doubt the situation? To have someone completely change species was just too... unlikely.

He shook his head. He just wanted to look out for the team.

**-oooooooo-**

The shower didn't feel the same. As the hot water ran off of her body, Shepard couldn't help but feel disgusted at her new self. The gentle beating of the showerhead against her body was not as soothing anymore, the water tinking against her metallic plates felt hollow, its force felt detached as the droplets merely rolled off like rain against steel. Usually a nice shower would calm her down, but all she could feel as a seething anger and disgust at the recent turn of events. It felt like all of her investment of trust into her crew has been disintegrated within an instant, and it as all because of this damn body. Her tears streamed out of her eyes, mixing with the rolling beads of water raining down from above.

_So Turians can cry. _She sniffed as she hugged herself, slowly rubbing the spikey ridges protruding from her elbow. Glancing down, she slowly took in what she saw. No matter how many times she's seen her body, the fact that she was now a Turian still sent her head reeling. Wiping her eyes of tears, she twisted the knob into the off position and stepped out. It was rare for her to cry, but right now, the weight on her mind felt even heavier. She felt powerless. Slowly drying herself off, she found that wedging the towel between the plates took longer than she expected, and the ridges holding in water made her feel heavy.

After having a minor struggle with the new clothes, Shepard found herself lying on the bed, her fringe pressing uncomfortably against the pillow. No matter how she shifted, she found some part of her body was poking or prodding out, making it almost impossible to find a comfortable position. _How the hell does Garrus do it? _Frustrated, she huffed and decided to just take a seat at her private terminal. Perhaps working on a ship model would put her mind at ease.

Pulling out her recent in progress reaper ship model, she tried to continue where she left off almost two weeks ago.

To her dismay however, having three fingers instead of five greatly hindered her ability to hold and glue things correctly.

Flaring her mandibles in frustration, she hissed loudly and slammed her fist against the table, scattering the tiny pieces across the floor. Sinking her head down into her arms, glowered at the faint orange flow of her terminal.

Suddenly, her intercom chimed up.

"Shepard, are you alright?" EDI's usual cool voice was littered with concern.

"What does it look like to you EDI? My own crew doesn't trust me, and I can't even assemble a goddamn model ship."

"My apologies, commander, it was my fault for bringing up the fact that I did not have a complete one hundred percent confidence in your identity." A pause. "However, after assessing your behavior in the short amount of time, I realized I have erred in my judgment. If it makes you feel any better commander, you have my full support and confidence as Commander Shepard."

Shepard managed a small grin as her mandibles fluttered. Strangely enough hearing that from the ship made her feel alot better.

"Thanks EDI. I appreciate it. For saving me too."

"Of course. It would have been detrimental to our cause if you are dead." Shepard could swear she heard a tinge of amusement in her voice. "Also, Officer Vakarian is on the elevator in transit your quarters."

Shepard nodded. "Noted."

"He believes in your identity too, Shepard." With, that EDI fell silent. On cue, the doors opened and Garrus stepped into the room.

"Hey."

Shepard sniffed in response. Glancing around, Garrus nervously shifted about and finally decided to sit down on the couch. Moving his guns and scattered clothes aside, he looked at her over her desk.

"Jane, about what happened-"

"Do you believe it's me Garrus?"

Garrus nodded. "Shepard, I knew it was you the moment I laid eyes on you." Shepard raised a brow. "I can't explain it. I think it's a mate thing, I can sense you- your mannerisms, your scent, your aura. Somehow, even in that new body of yours you still have the same scent the night we became bonded."

Shepard reached up to her neck. Her scar from him was gone. She winced at its absence. Noticing her actions, Garrus stood up and walked over, pressing his forehead against hers. "Remember how I said Turians mate for life? It doesn't matter if the bond mark is gone. I've imprinted on you." He helped her up out of her chair and held her tight. She returned the gesture and sighed.

"The doctor, his name was Nostromos Gale, he told me you and Tali were disposed of..." Looking up, she locked into his blue eyes, "you have no idea how much that had hurt. I thought I was done. A week locked up there, half of the time drugged up, all I could think about was how lonely it was."

"And you have no idea how lonely I was, trapped in the medbay without you," he purred back. She chuckled faintly.

"I assume Chakwas had you drugged up the entire time to prevent you from even getting out of your bed."

"You know her too well."

Pulling apart from their embrace, Shepard timidly stepped back and led him over to the couch. "I'll be truthful Garrus. I feel like a monstrosity, like something just cast out into this world and left with nothing to fend with." She gestured at herself, "Look at me. I look like nothing remotely close to what I've been. At least with the Lazarus Project those bastards were courteous enough to leave my appearance alone."

He stroked her fringe with his talon for a minute and held her hand. "Jane... it doesn't matter what you look like. I still love you." A smirk formed up at the corner of his mouth as his left mandible drooped giving him a sly look, "If it does make you feel better, however, your form as a Turian is a stunning paragon of our species."

Shepard frowned. "Funny, I sure don't feel that way."

"Let me point it out," Garrus responded as he pulled her up, "your waist-" he gestured down as he held her by her shoulder, "looks as supportive as ever. It's size is thin and delicate, which many will find attractive."

She laughed at that, remembering their first awkward conversation in the cabin when he commented on her hair and waist. "Next I assume you're going to comment on my fringe?" She coyly asked.

"Ah, but of course. Female Turian fringes aren't as long or flashy has males, but we still do prefer those with longer lengths. Yours just turned out the perfect length of my liking. And your eyes..." He looked into her dazzling green eyes and smiled, "It's you, Shepard."

For a moment they lingered there, content at looking at each other's face, slowly taking in its features. For a moment Shepard felt at ease about her new body. Just for a moment.

She blinked. Turning away, she made a strange chirring sound from her throat. This made her pause.

"What the hell was that Garrus?" She looked annoyed. "Ever since I've gotten this new body I noticed I've been making weird noises." Walking over to her desk she slowly started picking up the scattered pieces. "I can't walk correctly, and I have trouble putting on clothes. Plus, I can't even glue a model piece together!"

Garrus only smiled in response, "That, love, was just a Turian's way of expressing bashfulness. Perhaps in your human terms its more of an extreme version of blushing." He paused for a second, placing a talon up to his chin to contemplate. "Perhaps I should take on the duty of helping you break in to your Turian physiology." He paused and frowned, "wait, you have trouble with the clothes?"

She stared at him, giving him a "what do you think" look, "Garrus, I was born a human. I have no idea how to fit into Turian clothes and neither have I tried before."

"But it's so intuitive!"

"Not when you've suddenly grown spikes out of random places."

"Ah, fair enough," glancing over he grinned, "although we will need to get you your own set. Apparently my clothes are too large on you, especially the top. Not to mention you'll need new armor too."

She looked at him sourly, "Thanks for reminding me. Hell, I wonder if I can even shoot a gun accurately with these-" she flexed her talons at him, "three fingers."

Garrus saw the nervousness flash in her eyes. Gently, he pulled her in to him, once again locking her into his embrace.

"Jane. No matter what happens I'll be here for you. I promise I'll get you functional and shooting things in no time. We'll just tackle these issues one step at a time."

Leaning down, he rested his forehead against hers.

"There's no Shepard without Vakarian," she whispered.

Everything was going to be okay.


	5. Chapter 5

"Shepard, you have a vid call from Admiral Hackett."

Shepard immediately tensed up at her desk when she heard Traynor's message. It's been three days since she's back on the ship, and she's been avoiding the impending fact that she'll have to tell the Alliance about her situation. She put down her datapad and sighed.

_Might as well come clean... It's been too long._

"Alright Traynor, let him know I'll be there soon." She paused and placed a talon on her chin, humming in a polyphonic tone, "tell him... tell him to brace himself for some... interesting developments."

"As you wish commander. Just don't keep him waiting too long. I think he's quite worried ever since Alenko told him you went missing." With that, Shepard's intercom went quiet, leaving her with just the quiet humming of the fish tank.

On the day she went dark, Kaiden managed to get into contact with Hackett for an update on their mission status. It was not easy for the Major to break the news to the Admiral, but he did manage to stave off a complete retreat from the mission, buying them time to recover Shepard from the facility. However, ever since then, the Normandy has managed to avoid any interactions with Alliance command in hopes to sort out the confusion the rescue mission has ensued.

Luckily, Garrus's outburst in front of the crewmembers have managed to somehow convince the majority that Shepard the Turian _is_, well, Shepard. Perhaps it was because they were too afraid to question her, or perhaps they truly did still respect her, Shepard has managed to regain command of the ship.

However, gaining control doesn't mean people still treated her the same. There were of course the occasional stares and whispers, and occasionally Shepard would walk into a room just as everyone conveniently went silent. Conversation with her were strained sometimes, as if people were talking to an acquaintance rather than a friend. She couldn't blame them though. To them, however many times she tries to convince them that it's still her, they aren't used to seeing a spikey plated CO grinning awkwardly with sharp predatory teeth.

Most of the squadmates have been as supportive as possible. If they still doubted her identity, they did well to hide it. Kaiden apologized later that night of her awakening, awkwardly trying to explain to her about how he just wanted to be safe. "Never can be too careful when Cerberus is involved," he told her. Of course, she was still hurt with his earlier actions, but she decided to keep it civil and accepted his apology. Whenever he talked to her however, she can still feel a certain reservation in dialogue that wasn't there before.

"Can't win them all," Garrus had told her later that night, and she knew he was right. She can't blame them as they were only being cautious, but she still had the lingering feeling of betrayal in the back of her mind whenever she interacted with them. Luckily Garrus was always by her side, reminding her that although she has lost some credibility, there are always those who stand loyal to her, no matter what. Liara, although a bit suspicious like Kaiden, has teamed up with EDI to thoroughly research on a way to reverse her transformation. Tali and Garrus has been graciously showing her the ship's "cuisine" of dextro foods, which to Shepard's surprise, didn't smell as bad as it used to when she was still human. The taste, however, didn't do the food much justice. The Quarian and Turian only chuckled when Shepard proclaimed how bland the mush was.

"It's alliance military food Shepard," Tali said, "what do you expect?"

Garrus had then promised to take her to eat some "real" Turian food the next time they docked on the Citadel.

Shifting her clothes around to make her at least a bit more presentable, Shepard slowly walked through the war room, anticipation building up as each step drew her closer to the vidcom quarters. To her surprise, Kaiden was in there, and when she caught his eye, he quickly nodded over in her direction and beckoned her over.

"Here she is, Admiral."

Raising an eyebrow at the major, Shepard gingerly stepped into Hackett's view.

"Commander Shepard reporting in for duty sir."

"Shepard?" Hackett's professional demeanor was briefly shattered when he caught sight of her. His mouth opened, as if about to reply, but quickly closed as he gaped in astonishment. Catching himself, he steeled his eyes as he straightened up his back and shoulders.

"Commander, Major Alenko here has debriefed me of the current situation," Shepard turned and frowned at Kaiden, only to be met with an shake of a head, "and this turn of events is just... horribly disturbing. Frankly, I'm a bit at a loss of what to do... it's quite hard to swallow." He peered at her, studying her carefully. "I do hope you really are the commander as you claim to be."

A twinge of annoyance crept back onto Shepard's face. Luckily Hackett doesn't study much Turian facial language.

"I assure you sir, it is I. Commander Jane Shepard of the SR-2 Normandy. I've taken down Saren and the collector base, incarcerated by the alliance, and am now apparently a Turian." She narrowed her eyes as she stared back, "and even with this form I will still see this reaper threat through. I'm sure you know we're not abundant on time here admiral, so I would just like to know if you're going to back me up or not."

Kaiden stayed silent as the admiral quietly sized up the adamant form in front of him. Hackett finally nodded, a small grin encroaching on his scarred face.

"Earlier, Major Alenko has brought up a few concerns considering how we actually have no real identification of your identity. But considering how I've trusted your judgment in the past I'll also be trusting your word. Only the Jane Shepard I know would say something like that."

I feeling of relief surged through Shepard. She sighed as her mandibles slackened.

"Thank you sir," she managed, "but what now? Should we just make an announcement about the changes? People will start noticing how the human Commander Shepard has gone missing."

Hackett shook his head, "what will the public think? Morale's already low and to have news of their galaxy's savior falling victim to Cerberus will have catastrophic consequences."

Shepard clicked her mandibles in frustration, "does the council know of me yet?"

"Not yet, I've decided to keep things within the Alliance classified ring for now before we go fully public with this." The admiral shook his head and sighed, "you were humanity's icon Shepard, I'm just worried if you'll still have the backing and support of everyone if people found out their beloved human spectre is now a Turian. Human Turian relationships haven't fully smoothed over ever since the first contact war..."

Shepard approached the hologram and gripped the railings, looking down. She knew he was right. Going public with news of her sudden species swap would create media outrage, and disunity right now is not an option, especially with the reapers so close breathing down their necks.

"Tell you what," Shepard looked up to Hackett's voice as he studied her intently, "I think the wisest decision right now is to keep you declared as MIA. It'll cause some public distress, sure, but it's better than reporting you as dead or... altered."

The words stung. Being a Turian was now just as bad as her being dead? She felt a growl rumble from her throat. In a way it did feel true. Not having any remnants of your old identity really did make you feel like you are dead.

"We'll have Kaiden publicly spear heading the reaper war efforts in your absence."

Shepard, slack-jawed turned and directed her attention at Kaiden who was looking at the Admiral with a dumb expression on his face.

"Er, sir-" Kaiden started before he was cut off by the annoyed Turian scowling at the hologram.

"Sir, with all due respect, this is my ship here and although Major here does outrank me I have Garrus as my second."

Hackett cleared his throat, "Need I remind you commander, that it IS an alliance military ship, and Garrus isn't exactly part of the alliance? Major Alenko here is the logical choice to take command in your leave."

"Sir-"

"I know you hate to have control taken from you, but I assure you, this is only for the public's eyes. Run your ship as you wish, but do keep in mind your MIA status. Do I make myself clear?"

Shepard sighed. It's been a while since she's been given such a direct order.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. First thing's first, however. I was informed that you were completely stripped of all military gear during your captivity, including your omnitool. I've given clearance to issue you another one and enough credits on the alliance account to get you new armor to fit your... form. You'll probably have to go under an alias in public, especially when you're on the Citadel..."

Shepard could swear the admiral looked a bit amused at the last suggestion.

"I do wonder what you'll be calling yourself." A beat. Hackett smiled at Shepard, "I'll be keeping contact commander. Hackett out." With that, the vidcom flickered and all that was left was the gentle rumblings of the ship. Turning around, Shepard folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the panel.

"So," she started, "Kaiden."

"Shepard, I had no idea-"

"Save it. What did you tell Hackett before I got here?"

She noticed him fidget his feet as he crossed his arms in mimicry, "Only updated on your... situation. I also did mention that we can't exactly go public with this." Sighing, he continued, "Look, Shepard I never expected him to come to his conclusion of making ME the public face of the Normandy in your absence. I really thought he would... I don't know, do something else."

Shepard frowned. "Kaiden, look at us. It's like we're doing the whole stupid dance all over again. While I don't condone you for your decisions, I just need you to trust me." She paused and looked over the guilty looking major, "I know I really have no true proof that it's me, but I'm just asking you to have some faith in me. Remember our little chat at the hospital? We won't bring up our mistrusts again. Done. Water under a bridge."

Easing up, she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm a friggin' Turian without an omnitool, walking around in a ship with clothes that don't even fit me correctly. What really do you think I can do if I really was a Cerberus Agent?"

Kaiden couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I guess you're right about that. I... I guess it's just a huge shock to me you know? When the mighty Commander Shepard left this ship she was human, and bam, we come back, with a Turian labeled as Shepard in a stasis module-" He looked back at her, "it's all too unreal."

"You think it's been unreal? Try walking around with spurs poking out of your calves. And the voice too. Goddamn, this multi-toned voice just sounds too weird." Letting go him, Shepard walked to the doorway and stared out at the old conference table.

"I'm tired, Kaiden. Tired of all this bullshit that's been going on. I am miffed at the idea of you contacting Hackett before I was ready to confront him, but either way what's done is done. I already have enough people doubting my abilities in this Reaper War, and having more doubt me now isn't helping." Sighing, Shepard turned back around and gazed warily at Kaiden. "Trust me on this Kaiden, I am Shepard. Even after that apology three days ago, I can't help but notice you and Liara still treating me like a stranger. Let's cut all that bullshit. You with me Major?"

Kaiden nodded and saluted her, "Aye, ma'am." Kaiden wasn't sure what to think. It's still so unreal, yet in the three days of observation, her mannerisms, dialogue, and general gregariousness with the squadmates was no doubt signature of Shepard. Perhaps he just didn't want to believe that it's really her. Nevertheless, here she is, directly brutal and asking for his loyalty. What else would he say to her?

She grinned. "But then again, having you in charge of all the public crap would be a nice of fresh air for me. I finally can relax a bit." Walking back to Kaiden, she chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, "we'll be heading to the Citadel soon anyways. Have fun dealing with the Council on my disappearance."

**-oooooooo-**

"We really should make a list of what we'll need to buy."

Shepard was sitting in Garrus's lap, cuddled in his arms as they both stared at a datapad screen of Turian tailored products. As a Turian, Shepard has really grown to enjoy this position as the feeling of her cowl upon his chest plates felt ever so natural, as she easily conformed to his body shape. Looking up from the flickering screen, she purred into his chin,

"Honestly Garrus, it's just going to be you dragging me around and buying these things for me as I have no idea what half of these things are."

Garrus chuckled as he shuffled the list once more, "Well, you'll be glad to know that us Turians don't require as much personal care products as you humans do. That's one large advantage of having a fringe rather than hair..." He paused as he hummed, "Of course, along with that we'll need to get you a couple of your own sets of clothes. Too bad I'm terrible with Turian fashion..."

"Oh? Mr. Suave having trouble picking out clothing for a lady?" Shepard teased as she eased herself out of his arms.

"Personally, I just find them all a bit plain. If a girl's good with a gun why bother with what she's wearing?"

Standing up, Shepard stretched and made her way over to her guns, picking up her pistol and twirling it around in her hands, "Lucky for you, it turns out I can still shoot damn well with just three fingers."

A day after she was back in the Normandy, the first thing Shepard did was go down into the Cargo deck to practice her marksmanship. To her pleasant surprise, shooting a gun wasn't as different as when she had her five fingers, albiet she had to change her grip a bit. After a bit of coaching from Garrus, she was steadily shooting paper heads with her trusty SMG.

Still playing with her pistol, Shepard looked over at Garrus and noticed a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?" She inquired.

"I'm happy that you can still shoot Shepard, but... what about your biotics?"

"You do know that before Cerberus brought me back from the dead I wasn't exactly a biotic?"

Garrus chirruped inquisitively before settling with a low hum, "I knew that, but won't you miss it?"

Shepard shrugged, "yeah, I do, but I always do keep more than just a pistol on me. This just means I'll be carrying bigger guns than before. Besides," she grinned, "I'm sure I can get Miranda to do something about my implants once she gets into contact with me again."

Garrus got off the bed and swooped her by her hips back into his arms, pulling her close as he embraced her.

"Well, even if you can't get into contact with her I'll always be at your six." he whispered to her.

Grinning toothily, she let out a content _chirr_ before catching herself and covering her mouth. "The hell was that?"

"The sound a happy Turian makes?" Garrus has found it very amusing whenever Shepard is caught off guard and lets out various Turian behavior. It was horribly cute.

"Bullshit. I've never heard you do that when you're happy."

"Female Turians tend to, ah, vocalize more than males." His mandibles flared in amusement as he saw Shepard frown. "Trust me Jane, it makes you so much cuter."

"Are you saying I wasn't before?" She retaliated, only to leave him fumbling for words.

"Ah- not what I meant, I mean-" He muttered, only to finally cough and settle on "I love you Jane."

Shepard laughed, "I love you too, Garrus." Nuzzling their foreheads together, they stayed there for a moment before pulling away from each other. "Tell me Garrus," She started, "If you were to meet me randomly in the form I am in now, what do you think my name will be?"

"Uh..." Garrus stared at her dumbly, "where'd this come from Shepard?"

Shepard sighed, "Hackett says I need a public alias. I need a new name when in public." She sat down on the couch and motioned for him to join her.

Striding over, he silently sat down cross legged and thought about her question.

"Honestly... that's just hard. I'd just prefer to call you Jane or Shepard."

"No can do Vakarian," Shepard said as she tapped her datapad, "I need a name to send over to the alliance so they can set up a profile for me."

Garrus's polyphonic voice hummed once again as he closed his eyes and thought. After a minute, he looked back at her and grinned, "I had a childhood friend named Chaeris. She was part of my squadron when we went through military training."

"It's not Ms. reach and flexibility was it?"

"Oh spirits, no. No. Chaeris was well, as you humans would put it, 'one of the bros.'" This only ensued in Shepard chuckling heartily before finally calming down with a snort.

"I'm not even gonna need to ask where the hell you heard that one from Garrus. Never expected a Turian to say 'bro' ever in my lifetime. I'll admit, you did use it correctly though, much better than your other attempts." She grinned at his smug face, "I guess Chaeris it is. Dare I say... Chaeris Vakarian?"

"As you wish, my dear. Which reminds me-" Bending down, Garrus reached below the couch and scooped out a small blue container, "we definitely can't let you go around bare-faced. You know, Turian culture frowns down upon those who don't have colony markings as not to be trusted..." He paused and hesitantly looked at her before opening the container.

_Blue paint._

It was Garrus's same blue paint that he has across his face.

"Shepard, would you... would you like to wear my clan markings?"

A chirr came back into Shepard throat, but this time she didn't bother stopping herself. Placing her hands on his, she grinned.

"I'd be honored. As your mate, I'd say it's about damn time."

Dipping his hand into the paint, Garrus carefully applied the strokes onto his mate's face. Working swiftly, he painted on the symbol that he had been applying to himself for so many years. Leaning back, he exhaled as he admired his handiwork.

"Once you let it dry it'll stay on for a week or two," he said as she got up to see herself in the mirror. He was met with a small gasp from the bathroom.

"It's beautiful." Then a snicker, "You know Garrus, I could probably pass as your sister."

"Oh god please don't ruin it for me. Besides we look nothing alike. You're more pink and I'm more grey," he grumbled. Reemerging from the bathroom, Shepard walked back to her mate and plopped herself into his lap.

"Thank you Garrus. These past few days... it's almost been like hell. You've been the only thing that's been supporting me from tearing down walls around here." She purred as she leaned against him. "You truly are my rock."

"I'm only doing my duty Jane. You're my mate." Reaching down, he stroked her fringe, something that Shepard had grown to enjoy. It was almost as soothing has him stroking her hair.

"My bond mark, Garrus. It's gone."

He looked at her and spotted a mischievous gleam in her green eyes. Grinning, he purred and lifted her to the bed.

Growling, he huskily whispered into her ear, "well then, we might have to fix that. Allow me to teach you some Turian basics."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Apologies for a late update. Midterms and an interview took up my time during the week. Also, this chapter took longer than expected. Alot of Garrus/femshep fluff and shenanigans! Lastly, I do thank everyone who offered to be a beta reader for me. I actually have no idea how it works and I'm being pretty lazy so... just doing a self proofreading at the moment. :) If there are any mistakes, please let me know!_

* * *

Shepard mumbled sleepily as she slowly awoke from her slumber. Blinking, she realized that she was still wrapped in Garrus's arms as his gentle breathing down her back signaled that he was still asleep. Slowly moving his hands off of her stomach, she sat up carefully and edged over to her clock. He could hear him grumble groggily in protest but he readjusted himself by rolling to the other side and quickly became still once more. Looking over to his slumbering form, Shepard smiled to herself. Apparently "Turian basics" were actually quite pleasurable, and much simpler than what they had before when she was human. There wasn't as much awkward shifting to accommodate, nor was there much embracing either.

It was raw and primal. Reaching up with her talons, Shepard gently touched her newly re-minted bondmark on her neck. It was a deep blue color, as her Turian blood has already scarred over, forming a neat bite mark that marked her as his. It seemed that in this new body, Garrus didn't need to hold back, and Jane found it hard to resist the primal instincts that arose within her during the sensual session too. As a human Shepard usually would have followed up with slathering some scratches with medigel, but to her pleasant surprise her plating held well as a shield to his rough play and she didn't even feel any pain when Garrus's talons sunk into her flesh. Strangely enough, she somehow missed it.

Of course, being a Turian did require the two to be more careful and use contraceptives. Luckily for Garrus, he still had a stock of condoms that Mordin had graciously left behind to "prevent" any fluids from causing allergic reactions. Shepard had found out she was relatively immune from dextro reactions, so they had never really used much of them. Before the lustful romp Garrus was courteous enough to remember to apply the condom, which made Shepard chuckle. Who knew that a box of Turian condoms would come in handy on the Normandy?

Looking over to the pale numbers floating from the holoclock, Shepard squinted.

_Damn, only an hour?_

Normally she would've been out for much longer, but she was already feeling energized. _Chalk it up to Turian metabolism,_ she thought to herself, _just when Garrus had adjusted his own sleep pattern to mine too_. She chuckled. Looks like she'll be the one watching over him now, at least until he finally readjusts to his normal circadian rhythms.

Picking up her borrowed clothes, she quickly slipped them back on to cover herself. She still wasn't used to seeing her own body, and the layer of clothes that covered it brought a bit more sanity into her transformed world.

Once again grabbing the datapad that they had laid aside on the table, she sat down on the couch and looked over the makeshift list over again. She was actually quite surprised at herself for adjusting so quickly into her body. In fact, it kind of scared her. All the "Turian vocalizations," as Garrus had put it, came so naturally. In the back of her mind, she even wondered herself if she really was Shepard. What if she's just another random Turian that Cerberus had kidnapped and brainwashed? She shook her head. Hackett and the majority of the crew supported her. This was no time to doubt herself now.

_Chaeris Vakarian. _That was the name she'd be calling herself when she's on the Citadel. Somehow, the name felt both disconcerting but satisfying at the same time. For one, she can't be swaggering around as "THE Commander Shepard" anymore. No more random endorsements and discounts. But then again, it's a chance for her to just relax from her duties as she's basically handed a chance to be a normal civilian. The idea of Garrus taking her out to eat a "real Turian cuisine" made her feel butterflies in her stomach. The couple never had a "true" date per say, other than the silly sniping contest at the top of the Citadel. They just never really found time to do anything romantic in their constant battle worn schedules. She felt a bit silly about getting excited to hear Joker's voice announce their arrival at the docking bays.

Tossing the datapad aside, Shepard quietly moved over to her private terminal and opened up her locker customization program. Might as well spend the excess time getting the colors right on her new armor.

**-oooooooo-**

Garrus opened his eyes only to be greeted by an empty bed. Sitting up, he spotted Shepard's spikey silhouette hunched over her glowing terminal, hidden behind all the ship models that adorned her desk.

"Ah, looks like I still haven't adjusted over to 'normal' Turian hours," he said aloud.

"And it looks like I have to adjust to these new Turian moves you put on me last night," she chuckled, "although I do find it quite... refreshing." She grinned and pulled the shirt down a bit, revealing her cowl and neck. The bondmark that Garrus made stood out from her softer surface. "It's scabbing over nicely," she remarked.

"Glad to see it. Although I'll admit, last night was a bit... strange for me."

Shepard raised her brow at the comment. "What do you mean?" She inquired. She got up and moved over to sit next to him on the bed.

Garrus looked down, avoiding her gaze as he shifted in his spot, "It was just completely strange. I've gotten used to holding back, you know?" He looked back at her, a sheepish grin on his face, "Hope you won't get angry, but it did feel like I was cheating on you." When he saw her perplexed expression, he fumbled around for more words, "you know, I- I mean, I was a bit more used to you being all soft and squishy." He coughed, "I felt like I was cheating on you with another Turian female."

With that Shepard couldn't help herself but grin inwardly at her mate's comments. It was just too cute of him to state his feelings like this, confessing his embarrassment. She couldn't blame him though, as to her he was still Garrus. To him, she was Shepard, but in a completely foreign shell. At least he didn't hide his guilt.

"Glad to know I'm actually on par with a female Turian in bed," she responded, and gently nibbled on the side of his mandibles. She had found this new gesture the closest thing she could get to a human kiss, as her current mouth configuration made it hard to actually do anything once their jaws are locked. He keened in return, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Of course, it's cute that you feel guilty. You'll just have to get used to it I guess," she sighed, "at least... until we find a way to reverse this."

"Oh I don't know, Shepard, I might be starting to like this whole Turian couple thing-" He paused as he chuckled, "makes it much simpler for my folks to handle the news rather than bringing a human into the clan."

"Are you sure?" Shepard quipped, "you do know as a Turian I'm basically someone with no traceable background, and more importantly, clan-less."

Garrus took a minute to consider the comment before humming happily back, "well either way Shepard, I'm sure my folks will like you no matter what. Turian or not, I'll always be at your side."

"I know, Garrus."

"Hey commander, you're not making Turian babies in there are you?" Joker's voice suddenly came on through the com system. Shepard rolled her eyes as she gave a look to an embarrassed Garrus.

EDI cut in, "I made sure to check their vital sensors in the room before letting you contact them Jeff. I assure you, their heart rate levels have dropped to regular levels from approximately-"

"Oh God EDI, stop right there! I do NOT want to know when they were romping around up there." Joker cleared his throat uncomfortably before continuing on, "anyways commander, we're docking at the Citadel soon. I've already notified Kaidan for preparations to dock. Poor guy has to deal with the council now."

Shepard could only smirk. "Ah well, tell him good luck. Garrus and I will be down at the bay soon."

With that, the intercom went still again. Garrus held out his hand and she took hold of his.

"Ready to face the world as a Turian Shepard?"

"Considering how I've died, resurrected, and faced reapers, I've fared worse," she responded, and the two went out the cabin door.

Once the elevator door opened, she could hear the chatter stop as they all stared at her painted face.

"Looking good there Shepard," Tali started, "figure out what your alias is going to be while you're on the ground?"

"Taking in the name of one of Garrus's childhood friends during military training. Chaeris."

The Quarian patted her on the back. "Good name. The paint suits you," she giggled before hopping back towards the corner, managing her things in anticipation for some shore leave. The next to approach was James, swaggering in with a satchel hanging along his broad back.

"Well then Lola, going on a shopping spree for new Turian gear?" He grinned and gave Garrus the thumbs up, "you guys have fun. If you need me I'll be at the usual spot in Purgatory." He paused a minute before continuing, "for the record though, will you guys be going as a couple or..."

Shepard wasn't sure how to answer, but before she could say anything Garrus interjected, "Ah- er... let's just go for cousin for now." She stared at him with a brow raised, "distant cousin probably. The Vakarian Clan is quite extensive."

Vega nodded, "got it."

Shepard placed her arms on her hips and hummed loudly at him. "Cousin?" She inquired.

Garrus sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought about it you know? It's somewhat public that you're with me, and seeing me with another Turian might... well... put a bad name for the both of us. You're not exactly dead you know-" He twitched his mandibles before dryly finishing, "-just... MIA."

Shepard sighed. She was disappointed, at the prospect, but she knew his cover up was right. She was already fed up with tabloids and the press talking crap about her, and having more isn't going to help. Attention is not something she wants right now.

"I understand Garrus." She placed a hand on his chest before letting out a disappointed keen. "I just thought you know, this was one chance we could really just do something together as a couple. Like another Citadel shooting contest."

She could feel his chest rumble has he let out a chuckle, "I wouldn't call having a sniping contest as quite couples material Shepard, but I understand your sentiment." He stroked her fringe and purred, "believe me, I've been itching to go at a full on date with you too. But for now, I guess it's a bit of a start. Even if I have to regard you as a cousin. Besides," he chirred, "nothing wrong with going out to a nice restaurant with 'relatives' right?"

**-oooooooo-**

Shepard honestly wasn't too sure at what she was looking at. Disassembled, the armor pieces that were presented to her were like puzzle pieces. Glancing over at the exasperated Turian behind the counter, she looked helplessly over to Garrus for help. Noting her expression, Garrus quickly walked over and started assembling the elbow piece for her, clamping it down snugly around her spikes.

"The trick is," he started, "is to place the piece facing out first before latching on the other two parts." He pointed to the ends and gestured over to the other parts that Shepard assumed connected to it. "Those," he continued, "can easily slide in to these slots once the joint pieces are set. Same goes with the legs."

Shepard felt nervous at the shopkeeper's inquisitive glance. She could feel his scrutinizing gaze as she awkwardly slid the knee piece on. Of course, what Turian has never learned how to wear their own armor? She was definitely sticking out like a sore thumb here, and for the first time in a while Shepard felt embarrassed. She no longer had her name or status to back her up, as she was now just merely another random customer. A customer that had no idea what the hell she was doing.

_Give me a gun and I'll twirl it around like a pro,_ she thought bitterly to herself, _give me alien armor and apparently I'm a floundering idiot._

"Damnit Garrus," she whispered to him, "why can't Turian armor just be as simple as Turian guns? At least everyone in the galaxy can pick one up and use it."

"Don't have to wear guns on your body," he responded before grinning back, "you look good."

Shepard had managed to get the rest of the armor onto her, and turning around, she observed herself. Her black and red scheme matched closely to her old human armor, which comforted her. Looking from side to side while twirling her shoulders, she tested the flexibility she retained under all the metal. _Comfy and decent. Not bad,_ she thought. The cowl piece bothered her though, as she couldn't exactly glance down to her sides.

Noticing her actions, Garrus frowned, "everything ok?"

"Yeah, just don't know how the hell you have full view of your sides. This cowl piece is just smack dab covering half of my sights..." She growled a bit until he came up and took it off of her.

"Huh. Looks like my measurements were a bit off." Looking at the shopkeeper he gestured him over, "got any smaller ones?"

The Turian grumbled before heading to the back.

"Sheesh I must be quite the sight. A Turian who doesn't even know her own size." Shepard made a low warbling noise, signifying her discomfort.

"Don't mind him. Let's just chalk it up to the excuse of being raised by an Asari." He chuckled, "that or amnesia. Both works- Ow! Hey!" Shepard punched his arm in response.

The shopkeeper re-emerged with a smaller cowl-piece and handed it to them without saying a word. Pulling it over her head, Shepard shifted it around until it clicked. Looking around, she noted that it was indeed shorter and was more snug. Shrugging, she tilted her head at Garrus.

"Look better?" She asked.

"Just like your old armor. But it should be more about how it feels on the spurs and the cowl. A good fit is snug around the spiky bits. Is it more comfortable?"

She nodded in response. Afterwards, she stepped forward to the Turian behind the counter and activated her newly assigned omnitool. Hackett had managed to arrange a delivery to the docks right when they landed. The Turian only grunted a thanks and eyed them as they walked out the shop. The Presidium Commons were as busy as usual, bustling with commerce even during the threat of war looming in the very near future. Walking around, Shepard couldn't help but notice the constant looks various Turian C-sec officers were giving her. Slowing her stride to walk next to Garrus, she shifted uncomfortably as she kept constant watch around her.

"They're staring at me Garrus."

Tearing his eyes away from the giant body of water in the center of the commons, Garrus caught a glimpse of an officer staring at them. Garrus glared back and the Turian quickly straightened up and looked away.

"Well, honestly, it's been a while for them to see a female Turian in full armor wandering around."

"You know, I've always wondered about that. Why IS it that I don't see any female Turians around?"

"Most females are stationed mainly on Palavan. If you haven't noticed majority of us males work as soldiers, officers, or sentinels. Females pick up the more stealthy jobs, such as infiltrators or engineers. The Citadel has never really needed any of those units from the Hierarchy around so all in all, not many females will be seen." He paused before taking her by the hand and picking up the pace, "Besides, you're wearing relatively heavy armor. Females don't usually go for that kind of stuff."

"That why the storekeeper earlier was looking at me funny?"

"That and how you can't even get the spur braces on correctly," he laughed, "I'll say, looking at you, the military hardened Shepard baffled by an armor piece really is a rare treat." She looked at him sourly.

"You know, the alliance only taught us things humans need to know. Who knew we'll need to suddenly know how to wear Turian armor one day?" She scoffed back, "besides, I doubt you would know how to put on human armor."

Garrus looked at her with a glint in his eye, "I beg to differ," he responded, "being on a human ship has me observing enough on how you squishy people put on armor." He grinned as Shepard only let out a huff. "Come on _Chaeris_," he emphasized as he gave her a gentle push, "we've still got to stop by the clothing store to get you some casual wear. Can't have you clunking around the ship in your armor."

**-oooooooo-**

It was almost a full day of shopping before Garrus had finally led her to the promised restaurant. He was already excited as he was rapidly naming off dishes that she just absolutely _had_ to try. Shepard smiled as they walked in together, greeted by the sight of a well adorned room with numerous chairs and tables. Most of the patrons were from C-sec, with their blue armor shining as they dined and talked casually. When they saw Shepard they stared for a bit but quickly went back to their meal when they noticed Garrus looming behind her. Shepard could also spot some Quarians in the corner, picking at their paste as they filtered some through their ports. The Asari waitress quickly led them over to a corner table and sat them down, handing each of them a dual sided menu. Shepard looked down and frowned at the foreign symbols present to her.

"That ah- is the Quarian side," Garrus said and quickly flipped it to the other side. Shepard blinked as even more squiggly lines came into view. "They serve both Quarian and Turian cuisine here," he explained, "so it's a nice place for us dextros to eat and mingle."

"You know Garrus, I may be Turian now but I still can't read your language."

Garrus blinked. "Of course." He quickly placed his menu down and sighed, "sorry about that. I got too excited to come here. Last time I was here was in my C-sec days with my buddies." He nodded at a table of officers laughing, "I used to be like one of those guys, come here occasionally for lunch and a drink or too."

Shepard chirred happily and patted Garrus's hands. "Well, we're back and let's make it a good time. I'll just trust your sense of taste." She noticed his eyes brighten as he elicited a happy purr.

"I'll make sure you'll be so impressed that you'll never want to eat human food again."

Shepard chuckled, "I don't know, it's pretty hard to top human treats like ice cream." She always had a sweet tooth. "Either way though, here's your chance to wow me. My first real Turian meal."

Garrus smiled and nodded. Signalling the Asari over, he quickly placed in what seemed like a dozen orders in a string of sounds that Shepard herself wasn't even sure she could vocalize.

"You sure we can eat that much?" She questioned as the waitress sauntered off, staring at the datapad of orders.

"Well, I figure since it's your first time you've gotta have a taste of everything. Besides," he said, cocking his head, "I've got credits to blow since my promotions in the Hierarchy." He leaned in, "so how are you enjoying your shore leave so far?"

"Honestly, I haven't had this much fun in a while Garrus. Majority of times when I'm on the Citadel I've been running errands for people or resolving conflicts." She sighed. "It feels good to have that load off of my shoulder you know? To just not be so... involved with the war. I know it sounds horrible considering our chances, but to just be _normal_ for once." She fiddled with her cup of water before taking a swig. "I wonder how the council's taking the news of my absence."

Garrus grinned and sat back, arms rested across the seat. He put a talon up and scratched his temple before responding, "Hm. You know, I really doubt Kaidan's going to be in a good mood anytime soon." Glancing to the side, he noticed the Asari walking towards them with armful of dishes, each precariously balanced with skill across her arms. "And for the time being," he continued, "let's just focus on the food we're about to have before us."

The waitress swiftly laid out all the dishes on the table before bowing and shuffling off. Shepard wasn't sure what to do. It was an array of colors. Some seem charred, boiled, and even stewed. A porridge like bowl gave off a yellowish sheen while another dish was releasing greenish smoke. Hell, Shepard could even swear one of the roasted critters seemed to be wriggling. Closing and opening her mouth, she widened her mandibles in awe. Taking in a whiff, she noticed that instead of a nauseating smell she usually experienced from dextro foods, it actually... well, smelled _good._ Perhaps it's because of her now dextro based DNA but the aroma did make her hungry. She glanced at Garrus who was happily humming to himself as he used a knife and spread some red paste across a slab of blue-tinted meat. Noticing her stare, he gave her a grin and handed her the piece he was working on.

"Try this. It's a Turian livestock similar to your human's pork slathered in _azina_ sauce."

Shepard had no idea what an "azina" is, but she graciously accepted his offer and popped it into her mouth. The meat was tougher than well-done beef, but her sharper teeth helped. She was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. The meat itself was a bit dry, but had a tint of savoriness. The sauce, being spicy, paired quite well with it, balancing out the dryness and adding zest. She found herself reaching for more, mimicking Garrus's movements while spreading the sauce on the meat.

"It's actually really good," she remarked, "but what is this 'azina' sauce?"

Garrus paused a bit after swallowing a piece himself, "It's a common sauce that we add to alot of our dishes. Gives it a good kick. It's just this ground up flying bug-"

Shepard coughed as she sputtered at the comment, reaching quickly for the glass to prevent any choking. After quickly gulping down a drink, she stared at him, mouth open, "ground up bugs?" She managed meekily.

Garrus blinked at her reaction, "well, these things are cultivated to ensure the best quality-" he stopped when he saw her squinting at the sauce. He sighed, "I take it you humans don't eat bugs often?" She nodded. His head drooped, mandibles lowering and Shepard immediately felt horrible. Here he was, trying to impress her with his race's food and she's being a complete bigot. Quickly grabbing another dish that looked like purple asparaguses, she dipped it back into the sauce and took a bite.

"I'm sorry Garrus, I don't mean to offend. I actually really like it! In fact-" Suddenly her mouth felt like it was on fire, causing her to go into a coughing frenzy. Garrus quickly got up and started patting her back.

"You ok?" A look of concern was etched across his face.

Taking in a deep drink of water, Shepard managed to nod, eliciting out an embarrassed chirr. "I'm sorry Garrus, I was just surprised that it was made of bugs. It's actually really good," she breathed out. He only chuckled.

"Glad to hear it. However, next time try reaching for something other than the _ralita _to dip into the azina sauce." He smiled in amusement, "It's kind of like human chili peppers." Sitting back down, he reached over and grabbed a _ralita_ and dipped it into the yellow-sheened broth. "It goes with this soup here. Just crack it-" A loud pop was heard when he broke the purple _ralita_ in half and mixed it into the bowl, "-and pop it in. Here." He offered the bowl to her and gestured to her spoon.

Shepard sheepishly took it this time and drank it slowly.

Luckily, the rest of dinner wasn't as embarrassing. Shepard had quickly acquired a taste for the _azina_ sauce, and decided to just imagine it as spicy marinara rather than ground bugs. Of course, there were some dishes that were... questionable (it turned out the wriggling dish WAS partially alive), but majority of it was reminiscent of human foods (most were meat based dishes), save for their odd blue hued color. Shepard figured it was mainly due to the fact that things were dextro based and cyanoglobin based rather than hemoglobin. About halfway through their meal she has already given up on trying to remember all the names of the ingredients.

Both of them sat back in their seats, basking in the reprieve of stuffing their faces. The meal was decimated, save for a couple of morsels left over on two plates.

"I'll admit, Garrus, you Turians do have damn good food." Shepard started, and crossed her arms.

"Well considering the nasty smelling stuff you've been eating on the ship you'd be crazy to not like our stuff," Garrus joked. He lowered his hands and leaned into the table. "I'm happy, Shep- Chaeris." His eyes locked with hers, a genuine smile pulled across his face, mandibles wide in happiness. "For a moment I thought you wouldn't like the food, but thank your. Thank you for trying everything." He reached out and held her hand in his.

Shepard chuckled, "I trust you Garrus. It's good to know that your taste buds are functioning well too. Perhaps when all this over and well... if I'm still Turian you can make me some of this?" Her words were genuine. She trusted him, and just for this moment, being stuck as a Turian didn't seem so bad at all.

"Well, I wouldn't be a man if I don't give it at least a try," he responded.

As they sat there, staring eye to eye, the reaper threat that constantly loomed on Shepard's mind faded away.

_If only..._

That night, in that restaurant on the Citadel, all was well and perfect.


End file.
